Is it possible to be a school psychologist/head coach?

School psychologists may or may not be under the same contract as the teachers, but they are considered district employees just the same (in my experience). Many are independently contracted, but I don't see why you would not be able to coach. Guidance counselors are under the same contract as teachers--but do not spend the majority of their time counseling--they spend most of their time doing paperwork, scheduling, and being a go-between for angry parents who don't want to directly talk to their kid's teachers. They are under the same bargaining unit as teachers in every district I've ever heard of--that goes for coaching as well.

thank you all for the responses!!!

I suppose that as a doctor i might EVENTUALLY have the time to coach - but 5 years of medical school + 2 years of residency + 6 years of special psychiatry training , that's at least 13 years where I'll be too busy to even watch a football game on television!!! I'll be 35 by the time I actually start working as a psychiatrist and who knows how long it'll be until I can actually start setting my own hours.

It'll be hard to get back in the game after that much time off. The way football schemes are rapidly changing nowadays, who knows how far out of the loop I could be. Plus, not being an actual employee of the school district, it'll be pretty darn hard to ever achieve my dream of becoming a head high school coach (though I would also love just being an assistant under a good head coach!!!).

I suppose that a better option along those lines might be to get my PhD in clinical psychology, as that usually only takes about 5 years. It pays a LOT less, but I'd still be doing what I want to do, and I might even be able to work as a graduate assistant along the way. I could open up my own practice, set my own hours, and really focus on football around the Fall. It'd still be tough to get a HC'ing position, but like I said, I just want to be a part of the game!!

I guess that school psychology or school counseling would be the way to go if I wanted to be a head coach...but I've heard that those jobs can be sort of dissapointing - lots of paper work, student scheduling, etc. Maybe if I really proved myself as a great assistant I'd be able to land a head coaching job at a private school or something!?

decisions...decisions...

Thanks a lot for the input guys!

Sincerely,

Blue

That sounds much better! Its really hard to find good information on the web about school psychologists - as its sort of an emerging field. I may just have to job-shadow one or something the next time I get a chance.